Chapter 253 The Brown Group Announces Bankruptcy
He used to be so reluctant to spend money that the Brown Group wasn't doing well under his management.
Otherwise, the Brown Group wouldn't have almost gone bankrupt a few months ago.
He sighed to himself - times really had changed, and he'd been too stuck in his old ways.
This whole thing gave him a new idea: they needed to jump on more trending events like this in the future.
He immediately told the planning department to get on it, and got so excited imagining the day when the Brown Group could stand alongside the two major companies in Silverlight City.
Nico called, sounding urgent: "Mr. Brown, we're running out of inventory!"
Hayden's hands were shaking with excitement. They'd sold more in the past few days than they had in several years combined.
See, he wasn't bad at business - he'd just been lacking the right opportunity.
And look, the opportunity had arrived! He waved his hand dismissively and ordered Nico: "Keep selling. If we don't take advantage of this buzz now, who's going to know about our products once it dies down?"
"But that's too risky, Mr. Brown. Don't you want to think it over?"
Hayden: "No need to think. Just do what I say! Stop with all the nonsense. Do you want to keep working here or not?"
After getting yelled at, Nico didn't dare say another word.
People were so eager to buy because many videos had taken things out of context and made sweeping generalizations.
Everyone was moved by Hayden's fatherly love for Isabella, and with paid trolls fanning the flames, they hyped up how with Hayden's character, the Brown Group's products had to be good.
So people flocked to various stores to buy the Brown Group's products.
The Brown Group wasn't that big, and had even been on the verge of bankruptcy.
But according to online commenters, it had almost gone bankrupt because it was too honest to afford marketing costs.
Even when people raised doubts, they were quickly drowned out by the trolls' praise.
Suddenly, public opinion took a sharp turn.
All kinds of dirt about the Brown Group started coming out.
Hayden's tax evasion and asset transfers were exposed.
The Brown Group used substandard materials, buildings suddenly collapsed... negative news everywhere.
Food products were found to have excessive harmful ingredients that could cause liver problems with long-term consumption.
The Brown Group's overall size wasn't huge, but it had a hand in almost every industry.
So when things went wrong, it was like dominoes falling.
Almost all the Brown Group's products were found to have various problems.
Return orders flooded in, both physical stores and online shops were in chaos, and soon government officials came knocking.
They showed their credentials and demanded to see Hayden.
Hayden was already overwhelmed. The Brown Group's stock had crashed, inventory was gone, and all the online stores were still processing orders.
Now many orders were demanding refunds, but the Brown Group didn't have nearly enough money.
After investigation, the Brown Group was already falling apart. Hayden was suspected of tax evasion, and the company's books had been tampered with.
After digging deeper, they found that for years Hayden had been secretly transferring money to Swiss accounts, and the money had disappeared - no one knew where it went.
Each transfer wasn't much, but over twenty-plus years, it added up to a huge amount.
Soon, Hayden was taken in for questioning.
Within days, the Brown Group declared bankruptcy. It all happened so fast that no one had time to react, so the Brown Group's shareholders rushed to Heath's company to make a scene.
The Novalume Group was also affected by the Brown Group's troubles and was too busy dealing with its own problems to spare any money.
Heath was also overwhelmed.
He never imagined Hayden would do something like this. A few months ago when the Brown Group almost went bankrupt, Hayden had explained it as accidentally falling into a competitor's trap.
But now it was clear that wasn't the case at all. Without the White family's investment, the Brown Group would have gone bankrupt long ago and never made it this far.
When Sawyer and Flynn got the news, one was on set filming and the other was in class at school.
The Brown family's troubles had already spread around school, so Flynn couldn't not know. He just couldn't be bothered to care.
Ever since he'd seen Hayden and Olivia's true colors, he'd been too lazy to go home. Just seeing Isabella made his blood pressure spike.
He was afraid of dying young from stress.
He'd also heard that Isabella had been locked up at the police station again. In the past, he would have been jumping around anxiously like Olivia, frantically trying to think of solutions.
But now, hearing this news, his heart didn't stir at all.
He only had one goal now: study hard and become good enough.
No choice - everyone around Sophia was too excellent and outstanding.
Benjamin, Matthew, Joshua, and Tyrell - every single one of them was amazing.
He felt so insignificant among them, so no matter what, he had to get stronger.
Only by being strong enough could he be worthy of being Sophia's brother.
Sawyer felt the same way.
With news about the Brown Group everywhere, they simply blocked all their social media accounts and focused on work and study.
Olivia was going crazy at home, constantly calling them, but couldn't get through.
After several days, Hayden came home looking rough.
In just a few days, he'd become much more haggard, disheveled, with a beard growing in - looking completely unkempt.
When Olivia saw him return, she ran over excitedly, "Hayden, you're finally back? How did it go? Are the investigation results out?"
Hayden smiled bitterly and shook his head, slumping onto the living room sofa. "This time the Brown Group is really finished. What do I do? What should I do?"
Seeing her husband so upset, Olivia immediately felt sorry for him. "Don't panic yet, there's got to be a solution. Oh right, they said you transferred assets - is that true? Why would you do that?"
"I..." Hayden was stumped, his eyes flickering, not knowing how to answer.
This was a secret he'd kept for years, and he never expected it to be exposed now.
But no matter what, he had to keep Olivia stable first, because behind her was the Smith family.
"Olivia, don't you trust me either? After all these years of marriage, don't you know what kind of person I am? How could I possibly do something like that?" Hayden held Olivia's hand, looking at her affectionately.
"But..." Olivia looked hesitant, wanting to ask more, but Hayden brushed it off.
"The Brown Group has already gone bankrupt. If I really had money, how could I not use it? You know the Brown Group is my life's work."
Olivia believed Hayden's words and turned to comfort him by patting his back.
"By the way, did you reach the Smith family? What did Tyrell say?" Hayden looked at Olivia expectantly.
After all, Olivia was the Smith family's only daughter - the Smith family couldn't completely ignore her.